The big-budget epic "DRAGON BLADE" marks a new milestone in Jackie Chan's career

Jackie Chan waited seven years for this. This February,
everyone can finally see why Dragon Blade is such an important film for the
beloved action legend. Aside from being
the lead star, he is also the film's producer and action choreographer. All his
hard work is for a noble purpose. And
everything began with a meeting with Director Daniel Lee.

While
discussing potential projects together seven years ago, Lee told Chan the
legend of a Roman legion coming into China, and Chan asked him to develop it
into a full screenplay. The two agreed
on the main theme of the movie - that people from different races can live in
harmony. Lee followed it up with
extensive research, even attending a touring exhibition called "The Two
Empires: the Eagle and the Dragon".
The resulting script is the compelling story of an alliance between a
Chinese warrior named Huo An and a Roman commander called Lucius, fighting a
power-hungry Roman ruler that is Tiberius. Together with Jackie Chan, bringing these
characters to life are Hollywood superstars John Cusack (Being John Malkovich)
and Adrien Brody (The Pianist).

The blades of Jackie Chan and John Cusack clash

In Dragon
Blade, Huo An (Jackie Chan) is the Commander of the Silk Road Protection Squad
that protects China from invaders.
Wrongfully accused of treason, he and his men are sent as slave laborers
to repair the city walls of Wild Geese Gate, a forsaken trading post in the
desert. Meanwhile, Lucius (John Cusack)
is fleeing his land with his legion of soldiers and a boy named Publius whom he
is protecting from the ruthless Tiberius (Academy Award Best Actor Adrien
Brody). Their journey led them to the
Wild Geese Gate where they encounter Huo An's troops. A battle ensues, but the two leaders
surprisingly become comrades. But
Tiberius (Adrien Brody), who has killed his own father and blinded his younger
brother Publius, is not far behind.
Arriving with a giant army, he demands that Huo An hand over Lucius and
Publius. As Lucius and Huo An join
forces to take Tiberius down, an even bigger conspiracy involving the fate of
China unravels.

The duel between Jackie Chan and Adrien Brody is the climax of the film

An epic
story calls for a grand production, and Dragon Blade is making records for its
US$65 Million budget, making it one of the most expensive films in
history. 100,000 film props were used,
60,000 of which had been handcrafted. Director
Daniel Lee admits that the amount of props made for Dragon Blade is larger than
any of his previous films, but it is necessary to give justice to the
historical scenes. To build and store
these props, the production team had to build a warehouse with a floor area of
2,500 square meters. Even Jackie Chan
marvels at the scale of the warehouse, saying, "You’ll definitively be
stunned if you take a tour around it." He has also been part of the film's key
creative team from concept to the construction of the large-scale props. The
prop team jokes that “he did most of the work on set."

There are a lot of great scenes in Dragon Blade movie

Jackie Chan
and his stunt team handled the action sequences that are at the center of the
film. Since most of the cast did not
have an action background, the team trained the actors and designed the
sequences around them. Chan himself
trained John Cusack during breaks, teaching him tricks in sword-fighting.

The 36 nations of the Western region

700 crew
members of different nationalities worked on set, speaking more than ten
languages including Mandarin, Cantonese, English, Korean, French, German and
Russian. Despite their differences,
everyone worked hand in hand in overcoming the many obstacles in filming. Shot in China's western frontier, the cast
and crew had to endure extreme weather conditions, like the continuous rain in Hengdian and the countless
sandstorms in Aksai. Tents and camera
equipment got damaged, the cast had to endure the unbearable heat (sometimes
above 50 degrees Celsius) wearing heavy armor, furs and overcoats with an
average shooting day that lasted 14 to 15 hours. Jackie Chan said that conditions were so unbearable
to be beyond one's imagination. But just
like the character of Huo An who never loses faith in his dream of peace, they
all carried on, moving forward, helping each other create the unique action
epic.

Choi Si-won of Super Junior in one of his many scenes with Jackie Chan

Dragon
Blade also stars a couple of Asian heartthrobs: Choi Si-Won, from Korea's
popular boy band Super Junior, who plays Huo An's right-hand man; and Vanness
Wu, from Taiwan's F4 & Meteor Garden phenomenon, who himself filmed in
40-degree heat without shade and dressed in full winter gear as the
contemporary archeologist who finds an ancient military journal that reveals
the story of the lost Roman legion in China.
Describing the film, Wu says, "I believe the audience will be moved
to tears.”

Catch this
remarkable story of peace and heroism. Dragon
Blade opens in cinemas on February 18.
From Viva International Pictures and MVP Entertainment.

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